Women’s Big Bash League: Smriti Mandhana will play for Hobart Hurricanes in the upcoming edition

Smriti Mandhana will play for Hobart Hurricanes in the upcoming edition of the Women’s Big Bash League while the national captain Harmanpreet Kaur has extended her association with Sydney Thunder

India women’s T20 vice-skipper Smriti Mandhana will play for Hobart Hurricanes in the upcoming edition of the Women’s Big Bash League while the national captain Harmanpreet Kaur has extended her association with Sydney Thunder for the third straight season. Harmanpreet Kaur had signed a 2- year deal with Sydney ahead of the 2017 season.

Mandhana had a stunning season with Western Storm in the Women’s Cricket Super League in England earlier this year, finishing as the tournament’s top run-getter with 421 runs in nine innings – highest across all editions of WCSL as well as WBBL. She comes into the WBBL as the 3rd highest scorer in the recently concluded ICC Women’s World T20.“I’m really excited to have another chance in the WBBL this summer,” she said. “I’ve heard from many players that the Hurricanes group is a great team to be around and I can’t wait to get to Tasmania for the matches.”The left-handed opener scored at a strike-rate of 174.69 and also bang 21 sixes in the season – both all-time records in women’s league cricket – and went on to bag the Player of the Tournament award. She substitutes fellow Indian player Veda Krishnamurthy who made her debut for Hobart in the 2017-18 seasonMandhana’s previous stint in the WBBL for Brisbane Heat in the second season of WBBL was cut short with an ACL injury just ahead of ICC Women’s World Cup 2017.

Hurricanes obtain their season underway with an away fixture against Perth Scorchers on December 1 but Mandhana won’t be available until December 8 – a home match against Melbourne Stars.Harmanpreet was adjudged as Thunder’s Player of the Season in her first season. She collective 296 runs in 12 innings at a strike-rate of 117. She recently made her maiden T20I hundred, against New Zealand, at the just-concluded Women’s World T20 in the Caribbean which is India’s first in the format. Thunder get their season going with an away game to Melbourne Renegades.